The charter is a set of standards describing what people can expect when they come into contact with the trust and what staff can expect from them.

The charter's aim is to help people who use services, carers and staff to assess whether the trust is behaving in a way consistent with its vision, values and goals.

It will also help teams of staff evaluate their performance.

Ruth Unwin, the trust's director of public affairs, said: "Developing a charter will help to make our vision, values and goals meaningful. It will also ensure that these filter into all trust strategies, policies and procedures.

"A charter will also provide a framework for measuring the performance of the trust, in terms of providing the things service users and carers tell us they want."

To support the development of a charter, the NHS Modernisation Agency has agreed to pay for a series of workshops.

Eight workshops - four for service users, two for carers and two for staff - will be provided.